Te Deum

   Short title of a Latin hymn, Te Deum Laudamus (Lat. "We praise you God"), also known as the Ambrosian Hymn, after the tradition that Sts. Ambrose and Augustine composed it on the occasion of the latter’s baptism in 387. Its earliest reference (c. 500) is from the Rule of St. Caesarius.

   In the Roman Catholic rite, Te Deum is sung at the end of matins on feast days and through the next eight days. It may also be sung on solemn occasions such as the blessing of a pope after mass or the divine office. The chant melody varies in different sources, but the current official version is in the appendix of the Vatican Gradual (1908). Polyphonic settings are few; Giovanni da Palestrina made one, and George Frideric Handel composed two for state victory celebrations, the Utrecht Te Deum (1713) and Dettingen Te Deum (1743).

   Metrical translations into English number about 25, including one by John Dryden, "Thee, Sovereign God, our grateful accents praise," and one by Rev. Clarence A. Walworth, in the Evangelical Hymnal of 1853, now commonly used in American Catholic hymnals as "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name." The Anglican rite prescribes Te Deum for Morning Prayer.